Warped (The Mercenary Series Book 2) Read online

  X was the one and only person I’d ever felt safe with. If anyone was going to help protect me, it was him. I’d like to think I was strong enough to protect myself, but even I wasn’t pig-headed enough to believe such a thing. It was me against a city full of armed men who wanted me dead.

  Truth was, I was pretty screwed.

  Even though people were coming and going most of the time, during the early hours of the morning, things did get quieter in the house. Despite being exhausted, I’d forced myself to stay awake, waiting for any voices to die down, listening out for anything I should be cautious of. Every so often, my head dropped, and I jerked myself back awake again. Despite my nap that afternoon, I was exhausted—more than I normally would be at pulling an all-nighter. Whatever had hit me during my interview at the court had really taken it out of me.

  I still had the business card in my bra, though the card was now softer from my sweat and body heat, and battered around the edges. As long as it was still legible, it didn’t matter what sort of state it was in.

  Tony didn’t lock us in our room at night. He had no reason to think I would want to run away—after all, he was the one who was supposed to be protecting me. He obviously hadn’t given any thought to how I would react after my ‘punishment’ and thought I would just take it, like everyone else. He didn’t know I had a plan.

  When everything had gone quiet, I climbed out of bed and padded silently across the wooden floorboards of the bedroom to the door. Slowly, I edged open the door and looked out into the hallway. It was in darkness, lit only from the moonlight streaming in from the window at the end of the corridor. The stairs were along the hallway, so, when I didn’t see anyone, I let myself out and tiptoed toward them. I hoped everyone had taken themselves to bed by now. Even assholes like Tony needed to sleep.

  I crept down the stairs, freezing and cursing internally when one of the steps creaked under my weight. When no one burst out in front of me, demanding to know what I was doing, I continued my descent. I stepped into the entrance hall, the tiled floor cool beneath my bare feet. My heart pounded, and I willed it to slow, purely so I could hear above the tribal beat drumming in my ears. I knew Tony’s office had both a landline telephone and a computer. I hoped the place was empty, and that he hadn’t bothered to lock the door. It was a lot to hope to be on my side, but I figured it must be my turn for a bit of luck.

  Tony’s office was the heart of this place. It was where everyone passed through upon being brought to the house. It had two doors leading onto it, one from the front of the house, the other from the rear, and even had its own bathroom attached.

  I ran over to the door and stopped right outside. So far, everything was quiet. I listened hard, but couldn’t hear any voices coming from the room. I considered knocking quietly, to cover my bases, but I also didn’t want someone else to hear me and come to investigate.

  I swallowed and tried to steady my breathing.

  The room was empty, I was sure of it.

  I tried the handle and carefully pushed open the door. A table lamp was still lit, as was a free standing lamp in the corner of the room. They offered enough light to allow me to ascertain the room was most definitely empty. I held back a little whoop and a fist pump. It wasn’t over yet.

  My gaze alighted on the desk, where both the computer and the phone sat.

  Slipping inside, I gently closed the door behind me. I strode across the room, reaching into my bra to pull out the card. I’d be glad when I didn’t have to keep it there anymore. My poor breasts were tender from being poked and stabbed by the cards edges for so long.

  With my hand trembling, I grabbed the phone from the stand and punched in the cell phone number listed on the card. It was three in the morning, and I doubted the owner of the number would be awake. I could only hope he’d wake to the sound of the phone ringing and answer a number he didn’t recognize.

  The phone rang and rang.

  “Come on, come on,” I pleaded under my breath. My gaze flicked back to the door I’d entered through, half-expecting someone to burst through and demand what I was doing.

  I’d almost given up hope, but then someone answered.

  “Y’ello?”

  “You don’t know me,” I started, “but my name is Verity Guerra. I’m a friend of X’s. You gave me your business card in the street yesterday.”

  I heard him shuffle, perhaps sitting up in bed, and he cleared his throat. “Yeah, I remember. What did you say your name was?”

  “Verity Guerra. I’m being kept at Tony the Hound’s house—Tony Mancini. It’s somewhere in Park Slope, only a few blocks from Prospect Park, but I don’t know the exact address. I’m here with my sister.”

  “I know that name,” he replied. “Both of those names, in fact.”

  “Please,” I said. “Is X with you? Can I speak with him?”

  “He’s asleep, as far as I know.”

  “Wake him up. I don’t know how long I have.”

  “Are you in some kind of trouble?”

  “You could say that, yeah. But don’t let X come to the house. Tony thinks he’s dead. He’ll shoot him all over again if he finds out he’s not.”

  I heard an intake of breath, then the man said, “I’ll do my best, but X doesn’t take too kindly to being told what to do.”

  For the first time in as long as I could remember, a smile touched my lips. “Yeah, I remember.”

  “Listen, he doesn’t remember you. I don’t know what good talking to him will do.”

  “I just need to hear his voice.” I had to fight my urge to yell at the asshole to put X on the phone, or I’d track him down and string him up by the balls. Face to face, that might have worked, but on the phone, all he had to do was hang up and refuse to answer my calls. I wasn’t going to risk that.

  I heard movement from down the line again, knowing he must be going to find X. Did that mean X was staying at his place? I glanced down at the card again, as though hoping a home address might miraculously appear.

  “Hey, X,” I heard him call, his voice slightly muffled. “Does the name Verity Guerra mean anything to you? Remember the broad you’ve been obsessing over?”

  My heart soared. He’d been obsessing about me? Did that mean he remembered me? I couldn’t make out the reply.

  Another bump and a shuffle came as I imagined X grabbed the phone.

  “X,” I said, my voice filled with emotion and still hoarse from where Tony had strangled me.

  “Yeah, it’s me. At least I think it is.”

  Hearing his voice was like a soothing balm on my shattered nerves. I pressed the phone close to my cheek, closing my eyes to imagine him next to me. “I thought you were dead. I thought I’d never see you again …”

  “What were we to each other?” he asked. “I can’t remember my life before waking up. You said I was sent to kill you.”

  “But you didn’t.” I gave a small, slightly hysterical laugh. “Obviously. You helped me instead. We became close. We were friends … more than friends.”

  “Lovers?” he filled in.

  I nodded, even though he couldn’t see me. “Yes, lovers.” I liked hearing that word from him. “Where are you?” I asked. “I need your address.”

  “Are you able to come here?”

  “I’m not sure. I’ll try to get away.” I glanced toward the door again, feeling like my time was running out.

  “Don’t if it’s not safe. I will come to you.”

  “No, he’ll kill you.”

  “Who?”

  “Tony the Hound. He’s the one who shot you—the reason you ended up in the river.”

  “Can you run? Just come here. We’ll protect you.”

  “My sister is here. You won’t remember her, but she’s important to me.” I remembered my promise to myself about how I wouldn’t care about her anymore. I guessed I couldn’t just switch my emotions on and off, however much I wanted to.

  “Bring her with you,” he replied.

  �
�It’s not that easy. She wouldn’t come.”

  The windows at the front of the house suddenly lit up, headlights of a car shining against the glass. “Fuck. Someone’s here. I have to go.”

  “Wait,” he said. “I’ll find you.”

  I didn’t have time to hear any more. Already the car engine had been switched off, and the car door opened and closed with a clunk. I hung up the phone, and then slipped the business card back down my bra. Male voices, making no attempt to stay quiet, headed toward the house, and then I heard the front door open.

  Shit, shit, shit.

  I couldn’t go back out that way. In a panic, I ran to the door that exited onto a corridor which led toward the rear of the property, but when I tried the handle, I discovered it was locked. My panic went into overdrive. I couldn’t use the other door, whoever had arrived was heading this way, and I’d meet them on the way out. I had no choice but to hide.

  Frozen by indecision, my gaze darted around, trying to figure out where to hide. The only two places I could think of were between the space beneath the desk, and the adjoining bathroom. Hoping it would give me more options, I darted for the bathroom. There was a full sized tub in the corner with a glass screen in a cracked glass pattern to offer some privacy to whoever might be behind it. I would have preferred an actual shower curtain I could have hidden behind, but I figured it was better than nothing. I climbed into the tub and sat down behind the screen, huddling myself into a ball to make myself as small as possible.

  I prayed no one would come in.

  Male voices came from the office, at least two, but more likely three, I thought. They laughed about something, and then someone said something else, eliciting another bellyful of laughter. I willed them to call it a night and get the hell out of there, but then I heard the clink of glass and realized someone had opened a bottle of something, most likely an expensive whiskey to celebrate some deal they’d seen go down that night. It was three in the morning. Didn’t they ever need to sleep?

  I remained frozen in one spot, growing chilled on the cool porcelain as I waited, praying they would go to bed soon. I felt nauseated with nerves, and trembles ran through my body, though I wasn’t sure if it was from fear or the cold leaching through my skin.

  Footsteps approached the bathroom and my heart lurched. Shit. Someone was coming in here. I could only assume it was Tony—I didn’t think the others would have the nerve to use his private bathroom.

  The door cracked open and the light flicked on. I huddled farther down, trying to squeeze so tight into myself I would miraculously vanish. I normally appreciated my height and long limbs, but now I wished I was one of those petite women who barely reached five feet. I didn’t want to breathe, terrified he would hear it. I wished my heart to stop, feeling like the thundering of the beat would surely be loud enough to be noticed. I didn’t want to lift my head and look, terrified I would find him standing beside the tub, staring down at me.

  I’d never been a person to be ruled by fear before, and I didn’t like how this man made me feel. He was cold—even more so than my father had been—calculating and ruthless. At least when my father had been vicious and brutal, I’d seen the pleasure and sense of power he’d gotten from it. With Tony, though, I saw nothing. I could have been looking into the eyes of a mannequin, and I found that a hell of a lot more terrifying.

  The distinctive tinkle of urine hitting a toilet bowl met my ears, so I knew he wasn’t standing over me. I couldn’t breathe in relief just yet, though. I still needed him to finish and leave without noticing me. The only way I could do that was keep as still as possible and pray he didn’t look my way.

  He flushed the toilet, shortly followed by the faucet running. At least he washed his hands. An inappropriate and dangerous laugh suddenly bubbled up inside of me, and I bit my lower lip to prevent it escaping.

  But then the water switched off, and he left the bathroom, flicking the light back off as he did so, and plunging me back into blessed darkness.

  I exhaled a slow, steady sigh, my whole body sagging. That had been close.

  Tiredness swept over me, and I longed for this to be over so I could sneak out of here and climb into bed.

  I listened to the men’s muffled voices and laughter.

  For the first time since speaking to him, I allowed my thoughts to go to X. He had an idea where I was now, but would he try to come for me? I’d told him not to, and plus, he still didn’t remember me. Was a man likely to put his own life on the line for a woman he couldn’t even remember?

  But I had to see him. We had to be together. Being apart felt wrong in every single cell of my body.

  I lost track of time, but finally the office grew quiet. I wasn’t sure if I’d fallen asleep and missed them leaving. I’d been in a state of deep thought, lulled by exhaustion and the cold. It was quite possible I’d drifted off.

  Listening hard again to make sure I hadn’t been mistaken, I slowly uncurled my limbs from my body. The muscles in my arms and legs were cramped and stiff, and I stretched them out before attempting to climb from the tub. I needed to get back to my room before the house started waking up. If someone found me in here, or even just wandering around the hallways, they’d want to know what I was doing.

  I sneaked out of the bathroom, ran through his office and back up the stairs without being seen.

  But when I entered the bedroom, someone was waiting for me.

  Nicole sat up in bed, staring at me with narrow-eyed distrust. “Where have you been?” she hissed.

  “Nowhere. I went for a walk.”

  “Bullshit. You’ve been gone hours.”

  “It was a long walk. Now give me a fucking break, Nickie. I’m exhausted, and I want to go to sleep.”

  “You’re keeping secrets, I know you are.”

  I’d had enough of this. “Like how you kept it a secret from me that you’d blown our cover with the Witness Protection Program. I don’t remember you coming to me and opening up about how you’d contacted Tony and asked him to bring you home.”

  “Yeah, well, it’s a good thing I did, because if Tony hadn’t come to get us, that guy you’d been hanging out with would probably have shot you, wouldn’t he?” She pouted at me, and I resisted the urge to fly at her and slap her across the face.

  “Our father might have sent X,” I said, “but X never shot me, did he?”

  “But my point is that our cover was blown anyway, so I didn’t do anything wrong.”

  “You didn’t know that when you contacted Tony.”

  She scowled at me, but had no reply. She knew I was right about that, at least.

  And anyway, how did she know her telling Tony about our location wasn’t what led to our father finding out as well? I’d always thought Deputy Kier might have been the one responsible for telling my father where we were, but in the end there hadn’t been any proof of that. But what about Johnny, my old boss at the bar? He must have been on Tony’s payroll, and I could only assume that happened after we’d moved to town and I’d been given the job. It was too much of a coincidence for me to just happen to land a job working for someone who already worked for Tony. Tony must have offered Johnny a decent amount of cash to keep an eye on me. I wondered if that had happened before or after Nickie had contacted Tony.

  It could easily have been someone in Tony’s family who had leaked our location to my father. These men ran on corruption, and money talked. Maybe when all of this was being planned, one of those men had taken the information to my father and offered to tell all in return for a decent sum of cash. I wondered if the culprit had been one of the men X had shot, or if he was still here, moving in and out of this house, acting as though he was still on Tony’s side.

  I couldn’t trust anyone around me.

  Not even my own sister.

  Chapter Fifteen

  X

  The moment her voice vanished from the end of the line, I jumped to my feet.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” Harvey
asked me. He was standing in nothing but his briefs, and it was a sight I could have done without at that time in the morning. Or any time, for that matter.

  “What do you think I’m doing? I’m going to find her. We know where she is now, don’t we?”

  “Yeah. Maybe not the exact address, but I’m pretty sure I could find out. We’re not doing it like this, though. You try waltzing onto Tony the Hound’s property uninvited, and you’re going to find yourself with another bullet hole in your shoulder. In fact, it might even be in your head this time.”

  I growled. “I can’t just sit around here doing nothing.”

  “You’re not going to help anyone by marching in and getting yourself shot.”

  “She’s in trouble. You could hear it in her voice. She’s frightened, and she doesn’t seem to me like a woman who’d frighten easily.”

  He looked at me curiously. “So you remember things about her?”

  I frowned. “Actual memories I can recall? No, none other than the one where she stopped me in the street after leaving the hospital. But I know her. I know I do. And I won’t abandon her.”

  “I’m not asking you to. I’m asking you to think.”

  I nodded and rubbed my hand over my mouth. He was right, but I couldn’t just lie back down, roll over, and go back to sleep. I wished my goddamned brain would work right, so I could remember who I was. Surely then I’d have the skills needed to get Verity back.

  Verity. Why didn’t that name sit quite right with me? Had I called her something else? A pet name, perhaps?

  I hated feeling so fucking useless.